Arguably, data is a business' most critical asset. Perhaps
greater attention will be given to it when the IRS figures out how
to tax it as an asset. The loss of data can wreak catastrophic
consequences on a business, ranging from significant disruption to
the doors being closed if engaged in a highly competitive
market.

Still, many businesses don't employ a strategy to reliably
protect their data, treating the requirement more like an art form
than a science. Like an iceberg, the visual part of backing-up is
only the tip. What goes on under the water, wherein the "science"
of backup resides, determines the ultimate availability of your
data.

This article will relate how the BRU backup and recovery
products, with specific emphasis on BRU-Pro, compare to other
offerings in operation, and why BRU provides users worldwide with
backup peace-of-mind.

On January 3, 2002, the TOLIS Group, Inc. announced BRU-Pro
2.0 to provide backup and recovery services on Linux server-based,
medium to large heterogeneous network systems.

Framed on the time-proven BRU engine, version 2.0 is a
significant evolution of the BRU-Pro 1.0 product awarded the 2001
Editor's Choice Award for Best Linux Backup by Linux
Journal. Also receiving the 8Wire Seal of Approval and a
UnixReview.com "5 out of 5 recommend", BRU-Pro is receiving
recognition as a rock-solid performer. Backup is serious business,
and at the TOLIS Group we take our "Backup You Can Trust"
servicemark seriously, providing products that deliver great value
and unsurpassed reliability.

From a 40,000-foot perspective, doing backups is moving data
from one place to another for safekeeping. Sounds simple, but how
that migration is accomplished is a complex process. The genesis of
BRU in 1985 was driven by the inherent unreliability of traditional
approaches. These approaches are still being used today and
continue to place one's archived data literally at risk.

The following information addresses some of the major
characteristics that should be evaluated when considering backup
and recovery products.

RELIABILITY - The cornerstone requirement of any backup and
recovery solution is reliability, the ability to deliver accurate
restores, whether a single file is needed or a bare metal restore
must be done. The natural precursor to accurately restoring data is
the ability to accurately back it up. Equally important is the
ability to verify the accuracy of the backup. It is absolutely the
wrong time to find out there's a problem with the backup when
attempting to restore data in a pressure situation.

All of the BRU and BRU-Pro solutions produced by the TOLIS
Group provide unsurpassed reliability. The BRU engine checksums
each block of data to be backed up and places the checksum
information in the header of each block of data to be archived.
When the backup is verified, this special format allows the
comparison of each and every bit of data to assure the data has
been backed-up accurately. BRU can verify the backup immediately or
at a later time. The ability to verify the backup off-line
significantly reduces the total on-line backup window. BRU and
BRU-Pro backups can even be verified on a different machine (386 or
better)! That spare system you have laying around can now be used
to further reduce the on-line backup window.

Competitive products (most are based on the traditional "tar"
data format) rely on the ECC (Error Correction Code) of the archive
device to verify the backup. This is not failsafe because many
points exist in the data path between the hard disk/s and the
archive device wherein data can be altered. For detail,
reference the
TOLIS white paper that addresses this issue. The ECC of
tape drives doesn't have the intelligence to determine whether all
of the data coming in is valid. The code simply assures that what
it receives, it writes correctly. This is a classic example of
"garbage in--garbage out" should the data be corrupted before
reaching the tape system.

Some backup products that perform data verification can
require access to the hard disk or disk farms to execute their
verification capability. Since the data on the hard drives is
dynamic (changing), comparing the disks to the archive device for
verification of the backup is sub-optimal. This approach mandates
doing the verification immediately, thereby extending the backup
window. As mentioned, BRU's format contains all of the information
needed to execute the verification at any time, without a
requirement to compare against the hard disk drives.

RECOVERY - Assuming the data that has been archived is
accurate, the next consideration is its recovery when needed.
According to analysts, up to 90% of the time backup software
developers expend on development is focused on the backup portion.
The design of BRU is centered on the accuracy of the recovered
data. This mind-set then guides the development of the backup
operation to reach that end. It can be truly said of BRU's
development, "form follows function". The result? BRU implements a
data format that provides uncompromised reliability.

In a perfect world, data that was accurately written to an
archive device should be accurately restored. It's not a perfect
world though, and data can be corrupted on tapes by any number of
external factors.

BRU tests the validity of data coming off the archive device
during the restore. If the data is bad, BRU makes multiple attempts
to read it. If the data cannot be read, BRU advances the tape,
re-reads, and repeats the process until the bad area is passed and
recovery can resume. The loss of a single file is preferable to an
aborted restore that requires the manual reconstruction of all of
the data. Most alternative backup approaches abort the restore when
bad data is detected.

PERFORMANCE - Computers are used to make money for
businesses. The backup operation does not, and merely provides data
availability should something happen to the on-line storage.
Therefore, it's key that the backup operation incur minimal
disruption to money-making computing time.

BRU-Pro is a lightweight process, thereby allowing backups to
be completed at the maximum performance level of the backup device
and/or the network when applicable. The total backup completion
time is reduced since BRU-Pro backups are verified off-line. BRU
17.0 (also announced in January 3, 2002) is compatible with
BRU-Pro. Tapes written by BRU-Pro 2.0 can now be verified by BRU
17.0 users implementing the x11 interface as well.

Supporting true client/server computing, BRU-Pro supports
client-side compression that significantly reduces the time to back
up client systems. Also, BRU-Pro's tunable buffering technology
allows tuning the backup system to utilize the new buffering
schemes now available in today's modern tape drives to even further
optimize performance.

EASE OF USE - BRU products are developed by engineers who are
capable SysAdmins and NetworkAdmins in their own right. They know
what's required, and their expertise is reflected in the
ease-of-use and robustness of the products from installation to
operation.

BRU-Pro provides the most simple, straightforward and
efficient installation of any large network backup solution and
virtually eliminates the human error typically associated with
setting up a backup system on these networks.

BRU-Pro automatically recognizes and configures the server
and archive devices on the system. When the agent software is
installed on the client systems, BRU-Pro recognizes them and
automatically configures them as well.

The straightforward graphical interface provides point and
click ease to manage all backup and restore operations, and BRU-Pro
manages your unattended, lights out backup so you don't need to be
there.

On occasion, BRU-Pro users may need technical support.
Literally 95% of all BRU/BRU-Pro calls for technical support are
related to the system environment and not the BRU products. In
contrast to most backup suppliers, typical support calls to TOLIS
are straightforward and are quickly answered by the engineering
staff, not higher-level individuals. When you call TOLIS for
support, you're connected to the folks that develop our products
and know them best.

VALUE - "You get what you pay for" is a common adage. One
could interpret the saying to infer, "the more you spend, the more
you get." This can be true but not necessarily in the case of
backup software. BRU-Pro provides excellent value, from providing
unequaled reliability and flexibility to realistic pricing. BRU-Pro
2.0 is shipped with three (3) clients/agents. Additional agents are
also cost-effectively priced and available at quantity points that
make sense.

Out of the box, BRU-Pro supports virtually all SCSI tape
devices including drives, tape loaders and libraries, thereby
eliminating the need to purchase the costly add-in drivers
associated with alternative products.

And, BRU-Pro provides additional value through investment
protection. BRU-Pro supports 64-bit computing and is
Itanium-compatible already. All of the key algorithms within BRU
and BRU-Pro have been upgraded to manage the increased bandwidth.
The BRU-Pro you implement today will serve well into the
future.